THE BLOXIDGE TALLYGRAPH
The online Community News
and Local History Magazine
for Bloxwich - Edditid by
a Bloxidge mon!
The Blakenall Supplement
Great War Peace celebrations and tree planting at Blakenall Heath by Cllr. Somerfield, 1919
This section of The Bloxidge Tallygraph is being developed to cover the village of Blakenall Heath - now often known simply as Blakenall.
Although there is not as much history for Blakenall as there is for Bloxwich, I will do my best to do the village justice as a place which although it is part of Bloxwich has its own distinct identity!
From my own point of view it's worth saying that although I was born in Irvine Road, Bloxwich, in the late fifties, I spent much of my early youth living in Hamilton Street, Blakenall, and attending Blakenall Heath Junior & Infants - the Sunshine School - so I have my own memories of spending a happy childhood there up until 1972 when my family moved to Lower Farm, Bloxwich.
Working in Walsall during the week for many years, I've spent very little time in Blakenall since I left school, and it never ceases to amaze me how much the place has changed - and also how much it has not changed!
How you can help
One resource Blakenall Heath has very little of is old photographs - so may I take the opportunity to encourage you to contact me if you have any photographs of Blakenall - the place, the people, the events which have taken place over the years. The older the better, of course - but more modern photos are also welcome. After all, history begins a nanosecond ago!
Please do keep coming back to see how the Blakenall Supplement develops - it may take a little while as I have a lot of research to do, but you'll see some things take shape fairly quickly I hope!
Stuart Williams
The Edditer
Email: the.edditer@thebloxidgetallygraph.com
Shops and Christ Church (in the distance), Blakenall, c1950
A Potted History of Blakenall
Added 8 August 2008
Blakenall Heath, now most often simply referred to as Blakenall, is part of Bloxwich and is the centre of the Blakenall ward of Walsall, which has the highest poverty and crime rates in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall. It has been targeted for regeneration as part of the government's New Deal project since 2001, but while enormous progress has been made, there is still much to do. But its past goes back a long way, at least as far as the 1300s and possibly much earlier, at least as a place name. Local historian E. J. Homeshaw, writing in 1955, derived the name of Blakenall from the Anglo-Saxon meaning 'The hall of Bloc or Blac', as he did with Bloxwich or 'Bloc's village'.
Lying between Leamore and Goscote, Blakenall Heath is mentioned in deeds dating from the beginning of the 14th century, but it seems to have been a largely uninhabited heathland for several hundred years. In Tudor times this place was referred to as 'Blakenhall Heathe'. By the 18th century a small community had gathered around the green, which had once stretched across the site of the present Christ Church. One map from this time shows the village as 'Blakeney Heath', and another (Yates' map of 1775) as ' Black Moor Heath'. By 1826 the present usage 'Blakenall Heath' was firmly in place.
Blakenall, c1950
New streets were laid out in the 19th century and houses were built to accomodate the working population, who were mainly employed in the metal trades. Educational and religious establishments were soon provided for the new residents - a school and an Anglican mission opened on Blakenall Heath in 1843 and a Pritive Methodist Church was established in Chapel Street about twenty years later.
Christ Church, Blakenall Heath, 1950s
Christ Church, the Anglican church on the heath, has its origins in the 1843 mission from All Saints Church, Bloxwich. In 1865, the foundations for a church were laid in Bloxwich Road, Leamore, but later that year these were moved to a site on Blakenall Heath which was given by the Earl of Bradford, Lord of the Manor of Walsall. Costing about £5,000 to build, the church was completed and in use by 1870, although it was not consecrated until 1872. It is built of limestone with a Bath stone dressing to a design after the English style by a Mr. Noden of Birmingham. Although a tower was include in the original design, it was not completed until 1882 when the £1500 needed to build it was donated by J.E. Bealey of Bloxwich. The tower houses five bells, also a gift from Mr. Bealey.
Christ Church interior, 1950s
The parish was assigned out of Bloxwich in 1873 and endowed with a living of £200 per annum in 1874. The vicarage, which was built during the 1870s, was rebuilt on the same site in 1968.
Blakenall from the air, 1939
Between the World Wars the building of new streets expanded the community around Blakenall Heath - the Borough's first council house, in Blakenall Lane, was opened in 1920. More housing has been built since the Second World War, including the estate near Grren Rock Lane. That estate was named after Green Rock House, which is said to have been built from a greenish rock obtained from Goscote Colliery. This type of rock was formed hundres of thousands of years or even millions of years ago during a period of volcanic activity. Its presence makes it impossible to mine coal since it alters the structure of surrounding rocks (metamophosis).
Blakenall Heath Junior and Infants School, 1931
Blakenall Heath Junior and Infants School was opened on 30 September 1931 by Miss Ishbel MacDonald, daughter of Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald. The school, which over the years has expanded on other sites, has since gone from strength to strength and is still a popular establishment today. I had the privilege of being a pupil at this school myself, in the 1960s, when everyone called it the 'Sunshine School' (after the school badge, a golden sun) and cannot speak too highly of my time there! The Junior School is now in Field Road, occupying part of the old R.C. Thomas school building, and the old school is now the Sunshine Infant & Nursery School.
There have been rapid and major community and housing developments in Blakenall in recent years, strongly supported by the initiatives of Walsall's New Deal for Communities plus Walsall Council and national government as well as developers. Major evidence of this is the remarkable multi-purpose Blakenall Village Centre in Thames Road. This £7.3 million facility was officially opened on
The good people of Blakenall Heath have not had an easy time of it since the 1970s, what with severe social and built environment problems, and many might say with some justification that the area has been neglected for a long time. That has changed dramatically in recent years and the future looks bright for a place which has its own distinctive character and an interesting history. Its people have much to be proud of - and to look forward to.
The Edditer
